Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

And now, it could have three players go in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft.

Nico Mannion, Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji are all projected as first-round picks in some recent NBA mock draft projections.

All three were freshmen at Arizona last season. Only Nnaji has officially declared for the draft, but Mannion, a Phoenix Pinnacle High product and Green, who spent time at Glendale Mountain Ridge High, are expected to join him.

NBA mock drafts that have all three Wildcats going in the first round:

Of Mannion, Jeremy Woo wrote: "Mannion and Arizona ended the season on rockier ground than expected, and his struggles have cast added doubt about his athleticism, ability to finish at the rim, and his capacity to guard in the NBA. He’s more likely a mid first-rounder than lottery pick as things stand, and with those shortcomings, some think Mannion might be better cut out as a winning backup than as a starter. There is still a lot to like: Mannion is inherently unselfish, impressively polished, and a better jump shooter than he was able to show. He’s also competitive to the point where you think he figures out a way to succeed. Defenses focused heavily on stopping him in conference play, which was exacerbated by the fact Arizona didn’t have a legitimate secondary playmaker on the roster. Landing somewhere like Boston, where there’s a need for a backup point guard and he won’t have to play an outsized role, would put Mannion in good position to develop and succeed."

Rob Dauster wrote of Green: "Green is a consistent jumper away from being a guy that can stick in the league as a role player for a decade. He’s really athletic, he’s terrific in transition and he’s a willing defender that gives effort. He can be coached up on that end. But he was limited as a scorer in the half court — 1.19 PPP in transition vs. 0.825 in the half court — and part of that is due to the fact that he shot just 33.3 percent on jumpers in half court offense."

Gary Parrish wrote of Nnaji: "Nnaji emerged as the biggest surprise of Arizona's freshman class. The 6-11 forward was a borderline top-40 prospect coming out of high school, just the Wildcats' third-best recruit on paper. But he was Sean Miller's most productive player -- one who averaged a team-high 16.1 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game. The best-case scenario has Nnaji developing into a power forward who can create space rather than trying to be a full-time center because he's not really a rim-protector. Either way, this deep in the first round, the fast-developing prospect is deserving of a serious look."